Daisy Patch
by fowlfan
Summary: A collection of various one-shots, drabbles and the like. Final chapter: "Kurosaki fought hard not to turn his head and face the person. His hands were shaking in shock. He had expected anything for the afterlife, anything but this."
1. Different Kinds of Love

In the beginning he really had no control. The feelings of attraction he had towards her were barely understood by him, so needless to say he confused the hell out of Teru. He had once pulled her in close; less than three inches to her face, and asked her what she would do if he was Daisy. Thinking about the incident now still brought a faint blush to his face.

In the beginning, right after he met Teru (or abducted, whichever) he had fallen fast. Her commitment to her friends, her brave and intelligent nature, and her compassion for Daisy overloaded his senses. Even though she had been the only thing he had thought about for the last few months as Daisy, the way he thought about her now was different.

Master teased that he had fallen in love with her (the bastard knew him far too well), and, Kurosaki supposed, he did. But even now, as Teru was discharged from the hospital and things seemed to fall into their normal places, his feelings were changing.

He had loved her as Daisy, a protective sort of love. She helped him through the days after her brother's death as much as he helped her. He had loved her as a friend or brother.

He had loved her one-sidedly, and had resigned to the fact that while he would never be with her, he wanted her to be happy. His goal was to keep bullies off of her, to fulfill her requests from Daisy (though far and few between) and to keep her smiling. The way he had to treat her to safely be close to her made him feel guilty, though. He would tease and torment her to hide his true feelings underneath. Even after he learned that she loved him, he couldn't imagine being with her. It was too absurd. Truly, he didn't deserve it. For his past sins, and for his role in her brother's death, it was unthinkable.

Riko planted the idea in his head first. She told him that Teru was there whenever he was brave enough to reach out to her. If he wanted, he could be with her.

The polarity of this idea compared with what he had decided to accept as his fate shocked him. Could it simply be that easy? Reach out and she'd be there? Wasn't it wrong of him to wonder in the first place?

But now his love for her was slowly evolving yet again. He didn't want to simply know she was content with her life, and to see her smile from afar. He wanted to be next to her, be the _reason_ she was smiling. He wanted her to know his feelings, wanted her to understand that he felt the same way she did.

He wanted _her_, so badly that it hurt.

He was sick of pretending to be the heartless bastard janitor, or hiding his happiness or embarrassment behind gruffness. He wanted to be the gentle person he could be around her (though usually when she saw his softer side she worried that he was sick or the world was ending).

But, even though she had her arms wide open for him, he couldn't do it. He refused to be with her if she didn't know the truth about her brother's death. He was too scared that she would never want to see him again after he told her the truth. So Kurosaki clung to their normal relationship, feeling both the weight of longing and fear pushing and pulling him in different directions.

Because in this world he feared her the most, and in this world, he loved her more than anything else.


	2. Helpless

Teru always flipped over before she started crying. He didn't know whether or not this caused her nightmare, or if she felt safer on her right side. Yet, he knew he was in for a long night when she turned to face him in her sleep.

He sat up straighter to see her face. Her eyes scrunched as the first tears fell, body curling tighter to its self. Even with her hair a mess in front of her face, he knew that her cheeks were flushed. Shoulders shuddering, she started to sob into the sheets.

"Onii-chan, no," she cried miserably, her words barely discernible as she muttered them in her sleep, "I need you!" Kurosaki bit his lip as needles pierced his heart. Even in her sleep she could remind him of his past sins. It had been years since Souchirou's death, but it still haunted the blonde even now. Teru curled tighter into herself.

Kurosaki clenched his fists, praying that she would fall out of the nightmare and return to her peaceful sleep. Though he wished to comfort her, he knew from experience that there wasn't much he could do. Only time could heal the wounds that plagued her sleep. Still, he wished that he didn't have to hear the next words.

"Kurosaki, no, no," she clenched her eyes tighter with fresh tears, "Don't leave me! Please, please no!" The man she begged for couldn't hate himself anymore than he did now. He covered his face with his hands, heart breaking at her whispered words. "Kuro- love you."

Taking his hands away, he looked down at her tortured face. Tears stained her cheeks, the bags under her eyes gave her a haunted look. Her bangs stuck to her face in a wet mess; he stretched out his hand to brush them away. He knew it wouldn't help, and that it would just hurt even more, but he didn't care.

Just like every tear-ridden night before this, his fingers passed through her hair, touching nothing, feeling nothing. It served as a reminder that he had completely lost her, that he couldn't go back to how things had been. If only he hadn't waited so long, if only he hadn't been such an idiot, hiding behind his Daisy façade. If only he could have had a few more years… Yet even if he had done things differently, she would still be here crying, hurting, and alone.

Teru's bloodshot eyes opened towards him, and she stared at his side of the bed. She glanced longingly at the empty pillow, the undisturbed sheets. She let out a long, shaky sigh as she sat up. She hated this nightmare that attached itself like a leech, sucking out her energy and leaving her shaken and empty. It was always the same, her brother's last words to her at the hospital, and the day of Kurosaki's accident. Both still effected her as if they were new wounds, but her brother's death had been years ago, while Kurosaki's had been only two. She wrapped the sheets tighter around herself, and then flipped over to her left. Maybe she would be able to get a scrap of sleep tonight.

He, of course, was used to the fact that she couldn't see him. It had been that way ever since his car had skidded off the road with the two of them praying for their lives. She couldn't see him, feel him, or sense that he was there at all. Sometimes he wondered if she would be able to hear him speak, yet he hadn't voiced a word since he died. Maybe people like him just couldn't talk, or maybe he just forgot how to. He desperately hoped that he just _being _there helped her though. He vainly hoped he had some effect on her.

He couldn't leave her; the thought of it tore him apart. So he watched over her, even now, with his lasts breaths behind him. Forever invisible, forever mute, he would only always be a shadow in her world. Yet, he would do whatever he could, even if that just meant staying by her side.

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A/N: This story is rather old compared to the other chapters I will be uploading soon. Not sure if I like it anymore. Feedback would be wonderfully appreciated!


	3. Nightmare

"I told her Daisy will protect her, you understand what that means, don't you?" the man asked. How did he expect an answer, with the man in front of him sobbing so hard he could barely breathe? Kurosaki couldn't look the man in the eye; it was all his fault that he would die. Why, why was he giving him this responsibility?

Even though he was hunched over and with tears clouding his vision, he could still see the man's face as he spoke.

"You're in pain, aren't you Tasuku? Just remember this pain every time you get close to her." His face was twisted with a sickly grin, seeming to enjoy the torture the younger man was going through.

"Souichirou, why-?" Kurosaki managed to gasp. Everything fell silent.

A scream pierced the air.

"Teru!" he yelled out, running down the dark hallway in front of him. He found her screaming in terror at a giant cell phone, slowly coming towards her. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to safety. She kept screaming, though.

Looking down he saw that where he had touched her, large painful burns were forming on her skin. They appeared on her cheeks, where he placed gentle kisses as she slept, on her arms, where he had embraced her. He tried to back away from her, but the damage was done. She was screaming and crying with pain, trying to tear off the foreign looking skin from her arms.

A sudden burning sensation was working its way up his arms as well. He looked down and saw his skin melting away; on all the places she had touched him. On his forehead to check his temperature, on his arms as she dragged him along in her hurry.

He looked up, horrified, as Teru began to scream at him, "You knew this would happen! You knew it would go wrong! Why did you do this to me? Why?"

New burning sensations worked their ways down his cheeks. He reached up to touch the tears on his face-

Kurosaki bolted out of sleep, breath ragged. He silently sat all the way up and rested his head against his knees, trying to still his breath. He realized that he was crying only as the tears soaked through the thin material of his pajama pants, but he couldn't seem to stop.

The nightmare had been so much worse than he had ever experienced before. The look of agony on Teru's face still swam in his head, as well as the accusations she had thrown at him. Was he really hurting her by being with her? The thought had passed through his head a thousand times before, but now it seemed his subconscious had grabbed onto the idea as well.

Still hunched over, he realized he was shaking. The only time it had ever been this bad was the first nightmare he had after Souichirou's death, he had shaken and sobbed all the way to the bathroom where he proceeded to be sick for the rest of the night.

He realized he might need to do the same thing again, and looked down to get a bearing on where he was. The couch, which meant he was in the living room, which meant that Teru was asleep in the bedroom-

"Kurosaki...?" a small voice behind him whispered.

Not asleep, then.

"Go back to bed," he growled, not looking at her. Maybe she had just walked out and hadn't seen the worst of it, like last time.

"I have a wet towel and some water for you, if you need it," she continued, ignoring his harsh tone. He turned around to face her; she was sitting on the arm of the couch, a worried look on her face. Ashamed, he took the towel from her and started to wipe the tears off his face, in a useless attempt to hide his distress.

"How long have you been out here?"

"A little before you woke up. I tried to get you up myself, but it wouldn't work," she replied, sliding off the arm and onto the cushion next to him. He winced; she had seen the whole thing, then.

"Sorry I woke you up," he muttered, wiping off the back of his neck next. It took him a moment to realize he was still shaking, and that he still felt sick. "Teru, I'm fine, go back to bed," he said pleadingly. She simply shook her head a little.

"You look cold, do you need a thicker blanket? I can go grab you one," she said instead. He gave her a weak laugh, understanding that she wasn't going anywhere.

"No, but thank you."

"Kurosaki, do you, I mean if you really want to, maybe you can tell me about it?" she asked uncertainly, looking up at him with concern, "Was it about my brother?"

He still found it strange to be able to talk openly between the two of them. He silently nodded, not wanting to mention the second part of the dream as well.

"I'd beat the crap out of him if he were here now, for you," she said bluntly, with an overly serious look on her face. Kurosaki snorted, caught off guard by the comment. She smiled a little, then gently reached out and grabbed his hand, which was tightly gripping the towel she had given him on his lap.

Her touch soothed him slightly, and he let a shaky breath out in relief. Teru, seeing this improvement, moved closer to him so that their sides leaned comfortably against each other. The increased contact eased him even more, and gradually his shaking slowed. He was able to take his mind off the nightmare as he focused instead on the feeling of her cheek oh his shoulder and the gentle brush of her hair on his arm.

After a few minutes of this companionable silence, Kurosaki began to explain.

"It's usually about the last time I saw your brother. He was telling me that I had to watch over you, and that it didn't matter that I was in pain over it. He told me to remember that pain every time I got close to you." he relayed the dream to her, staring blankly in front of him.

Teru, he knew, had heard this all once before from Riko. "It doesn't sound like something he would do," she whispered.

"I think that's a reason I still have nightmares about it. It was so unlike him. At the time, though, it made complete sense. Of course he would hate me for what I did to him-..."

"He didn't hate you," she quickly interrupted. He gave her a surprised look.

"What do you-…?"

"If he hated you, he definitely wouldn't let you anywhere near me. Obviously, he trusted you a lot more than you think," she stated logically. He did notice the quick glance she gave him to check his reaction. He silently thought her statement over. A small weight seemed to lift off his chest.

"I think you might be right," he admitted, though he wasn't one hundred per cent sold on the idea. Kurosaki knew how much the man had loved his sister, it wouldn't make sense to give her care to someone he couldn't trust and despised. Teru's resulting smile made him feel even better. He yawned suddenly, and realized that he was exhausted from his nightmare.

Teru got up off the couch and Kurosaki supposed she was letting him lie back down. Instead kept a hold of his hand and attempted to get him off the couch.

"Come on, let's get you in bed," she said, sounding surprisingly motherly. He resisted weakly, which was still enough to thwart her efforts.

"I don't need the bed; the couch is just fi-…"

"You need a good night's sleep, and you're not going to get that on the couch," she cut him off. The glare she gave him was more funny than intimidating. Kurosaki allowed himself to be dragged off the couch.

The bedroom was even darker than the living room; Teru usually turned the light off of the alarm clock because it kept her awake. The sheets on the bed showed signs of being ripped off in a haste, which Kurosaki guiltily realized was caused by Teru rushing to help him. His eyes were barely staying open as he slipped himself under the rumpled covers.

"Sorry for stealing the bed from you," he apologized in the general direction he thought Teru was in. "Though it is my apartment so I gue-…" he quickly cut himself off as he heard a creak from the other side of the bed, and as he felt weight being applied to the mattress.

"Teru," he said warningly. Suddenly he didn't feel so tired, "What are you doing?" Did his voice just crack? She had edged herself over to his side of the bed, laying six inches away from him, her head resting on his pillow next to his.

"U-um,well-…" she started off stuttering. Then he heard her take a deep breath. "The last time you had a nightmare, y-you felt better when I was near you, I think. So I just thought that… N-never mind, I'm sorry, this was a dumb idea.

Before she was able to scoot out of the bed, Kurosaki wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. He realized how much courage it had taken for her to even make the suggestion, let alone act on it. He didn't want to dismiss her and embarrass her even more. And, he'd be lying to himself if he didn't stop her for more selfish reasons.

Pressed lightly to his chest, Teru squeaked out a, "Kurosaki?"

"It works better when you're closer," he explained. And it did. While he had thought he had felt better after her leaning against him on the couch, it had nothing on this. With the warmth he felt from her held so close to him, he couldn't feel any vestige of the ill effects of his dream. Teru didn't move for a bit, and Kurosaki began to worry that he had stepped over the line, until she snuggled against him a little and sighed.

"I'm glad I can help," she said sincerely. Kurosaki adjusted the pillow better for both of them, angling it down a bit for her, and then relaxed as well.

"You better fall asleep before I come to my senses," he warned, though the warmth in his voice counteracted any sort of threat in the sentence. She faked a snore. Kurosaki laughed gently.

Kurosaki knew that it was going to be an extremely awkward situation come morning, but he couldn't seem to care too much at the moment. The two quickly fell asleep, with Teru cuddled up to Kurosaki's chest, his arm lying over her.

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**A/N: First part in a couple of fluff buffers I'm building up for an upcoming chapter. Though it starts out angsty enough, it gets better, right? This chapter is set in the future a bit, where Teru and Kurosaki are open about Daisy, but their relationship is still in an in-between period. Let's say that this definitely tipped the scales from 'friends' to 'dating'.  
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	4. Summer Heat

Teru turned over for the third time that morning in bed. She knew that she should get up, but it was Sunday, so she wanted to enjoy the lay in for as long as possible. It didn't help that it had taken her forever to get to sleep the night before.

She sighed and rolled out of the bed and onto the floor, dramatically stretching out. She felt disgusting that morning. She was sweaty and sticky from the record heat waves that Japan was experiencing. It seemed fate wanted to have a good laugh too, since the air-conditioning systems throughout the whole apartment building had kicked the bucket as soon as the thermometer had started to climb.

Teru quickly worked her hair into a pony tail to get it off her neck. She knew it looked like a mess, but it didn't really matter. She had the apartment all to herself that day, Riko had left last night to visit some of her friends a few hours away.

So she was startled to hear the door of the apartment open from inside her bedroom. 'She can't be back already!' she thought. Cautiously, she stuck her head out of her door, to see who it was. She wasn't entirely surprised to see that it was Kurosaki, though it was unusual for him to come into their apartment to begin with. He was rooting around in the kitchen for something.

"What'cha looking for?" Teru asked as she stepped out into the living room. He picked his head up from one of the drawers, a scowl across his face.

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Teru continued.

"Shut up, idiot. You look worse. Did something attack your hair this morning?" he shot back testily, slamming the drawer he was working on and opening another. Teru touched her hair self consciously as she quickly checked her pajamas. They weren't ugly, but you couldn't do much with a large t-shirt with some shorts hidden underneath.

"Hey, Kurosaki, it's too early in the morning to be fighting like thi-"

"It's almost noon," he pointed out. The girl blinked.

"Wow, really? I didn't think I slept that long. I should start on my homework. Oh! Right, what are you looking for?" He glared at her.

"Riko's keys. She took my car, only telling me she'd be taking it a moment before she left. Then she told me the keys for hers were in the kitchen, but do you see them?" he ran a hand through his hair, annoyed.

"She steals your car too often."

"I'm just gonna have to have a talk with her about 'borrowing' people's shit without asking," he muttered murderously, searching under the sink. "Who knows where the old hag hid them."

He continued on cursing the woman and the heat wave and the broken air-conditioning as Teru scooted behind him to get some breakfast. She reached up into one of the cabinets to grab a plate, then into the refrigerator for some of the leftovers from her and Riko's dinner the night before. It was close enough to lunchtime, she decided.

"I give up, I'm just going to call and ask," Kurosaki grumbled from the floor. He fished around in his pockets for his cell phone, until he caught sight of Teru. "H-hey, you've got pants on underneath there, right?" Teru blushed.

"Of course, you pervert! See?" she quickly flashed the long t-shirt up a bit. Really, Kurosaki was such a creep sometimes...

The creep's face was oddly frozen in surprise. Really, had he never seen shorts before? Then Teru remembered. She had simply dumped all her clothing off the night before and pulled on a t-shirt. She had debated putting on pants, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble and simply flopped onto the bed.

Therefore, she had just flashed Kurosaki with her panties. He had even been _eyelevel_!

"Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!" she screamed and ran into her room, blushing so hard she looked like a tomato. She would _never_ be able to face the man again.

"HEY! That was _not_ my fault!" she heard him yell through the door.

**A/N: **This is set in the time after Teru moves in with Riko, but before she knows that Kurosaki is Daisy. I've got a couple more completed one-shots in line after this one. What do you guys want more? Fluff, or pervyness like this? :P


	5. Leaving

**A/N: WARNING, this chapter contains spoilers from chapter 42 of the manga. Please take note.

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Teru wished she was more selfish. If she were, she would be able to beg Kurosaki to take her with him, or try to convince Riko that it would be a good idea. But, she wasn't like that. She saw the logic in letting Kurosaki go off into hiding alone. She would hinder him, make it easier to find the both of them and miss far too much school.

But she still wanted to go.

She barely had him back in her life after he had run away to find the Jack-O-Frost program. It still felt surreal to see him now, like if she blinked he would be gone again. And soon he would be.

She had asked Riko when she thought Kurosaki would return. The pained look on the woman's face told her all she needed to know. No one knew how long he would have to leave for, to stay protected and find the perpetrators behind this whole mess.

It was three days after Teru had managed to bring Kurosaki back. They had stayed at the hotel, not wanting to go home for fear of Kurosaki's safety. Teru shared her room with Riko after the first night, Kurosaki refusing, for some odd reason, to be her bunkmate again.

He had, however went to talk to her in her room a half hour before he was scheduled to leave. Teru was packing up to head back to her apartment, Kurosaki sat on the large queen bed in the room, waiting for her to finish.

Suitcase packed, she dumped the container on the bed then sat down with a huff right next to him. The work had done nothing to take his departure farther from her thoughts.

"Where do you think you're headed next?" she asked, trying to keep things light and simple.

"Up north, there are some contacts up there that might know something. Master even rented me a decent car to go check it out," he smiled. Teru didn't miss the strained look the gesture had.

She looked down at her hands, "You can stop pretending. I know you're not happy right now." The smile instantly disappeared, replaced with an exhausted look.

"You know me far too well," he sighed, wiping his hand over his face. It didn't look as though he had gotten much sleep the night before. "I don't know if this trip will really result in anything. The chance is so slim that this guy will know anything, but I still need to take it. Any chance I have to fix my mistakes, I'll take it."

"Unless it means you'll get hurt, right?" she glared at him.

"It doesn't matter if I get hurt or-" Teru interrupted him by punching him in the arm; hard. "Ow, what the hell, that hurt!" he exclaimed, rubbing his forearm. Teru silently thanked Riko for teaching her how to punch.

"You were talking like an idiot, so I had to stop you," she replied simply. He glared at her, then suddenly checked the watch on his wrist.

"Shit, Riko will want me down there by now."

Neither of them made any motions to get up. Kurosaki looked back at Teru with a soft expression.

"Promise me you'll stay out of trouble," he teased.

"Ha, like I'm ever in trouble. Try not to go bald before you come back. Master doesn't want any competition."

The two of them laughed freely at the idea. Teru couldn't help but realize that she missed these carefree moments. She wished for the hundredth time that day that she could go with him and try to keep that smile on his face.

"I wish I could go with you," she muttered, then quickly backtracked, "I mean, I know why I can't go and why it wouldn't work out and that it's a dumb idea and-". Kurosaki nudged her with his elbow.

"You're blabbering. The most important thing is that you're safer if you don't come with me. If it wasn't going to be as dangerous, well, I would definitely keep you by my side." Teru's eyes widened as his cheeks turned pink. "I-I mean, I'd need a slave to help me with everything, right?"

Teru smiled warmly, which only seemed to make Kurosaki blush more. "Would I be getting paid, this time around?" she laughed.

"Idiot, slaves don't get-"

"TASUKU! Where the hell are you?" Riko's voice rang through the door from the hallway. The man's short lived gleeful expression fell.

"Guess it's time," he grumbled, picking himself up off the bed. Teru's heart reeled from the sudden loss of his presence next to hers and the tangible feeling of his weight on the bed. "You're leaving right after me, right? Do you want me to take your luggage or...?"

"N-no, I've got it," she replied quickly, getting up as well. She turned around to grab her suitcase, cursing the prickling that was slowly developing behind her eyes. She silently scolded herself.

_Not here, not in front of him. You're supposed to hold it in until after he leaves. Crap crap crap-_

"Y-you go on ahead. Riko's w-waiting for you," she said, hoping the cracks in her voice weren't as obvious to him as they sounded in her ears.

"Teru?" he asked concerned, then, after a pause, muttered a knowing, "Oh." She heard him step a little closer. "Teru, turn around."

She furiously wiped her eyes and turned to face him. She had promised herself the day she had to leave his apartment not to cry so shamelessly again. Except, this time, it seemed so much worse, since she didn't know when she would see him again. "I'm fine, really, i-it's just stress and-" she stopped as she looked up at Kurosaki.

He stood there with his arms wide open, a sad smile across his lips. The sight caused even more of her stubborn tears to fall. She quickly closed the gap between them, and wrapped her arms around his middle.

How long ago was it that she found the idea of him being nice, frightening? That the demon janitor must be sick or something to actually care for her? When did she realize that it was impossible for him to mean all of the horrible things he said to her, when his little displays of compassion said otherwise? She could hardly pinpoint it, but she now knew the truth. The real Kurosaki was the one that was currently holding her tight, understanding what she needed without a word being exchanged.

"I'm gonna miss you," he told her. She picked her head off his chest to look up at him.

"I'm going to miss you too," she replied softly. After a moment, he started to back up a little. Teru squeezed him tighter. She, being so selfish, didn't want the moment to end. Taking a deep breath, she started to speak.

"I need to tell you something before you go, Kurosaki," she looked straight into his face, while starting flush, "I-I know you already know this, but I just wanted to say it before you leave. Well, actually tell you face to face. I love you, Kurosaki."

His surprised expression made her blush even more. There, she had finally confessed to his face. She just wanted to remind him once more before he left. After a moment he smiled, and hugged her even tighter, leaning down to bury his head in her hair.

Softly, almost so softly she didn't hear it, he murmured, "I love you too."

Both froze up the moment the words left his mouth.

"W-what?" Teru asked, dumbstruck. Kurosaki quickly untangled himself from her arms and backed up. His face glowed bright red.

"I-I didn't, well I mean, what I wanted to say was," he stuttered, and then sighed in frustration, "I didn't mean to say that out loud."

Teru's heart seemed to swell in her chest, realizing that he had actually meant it. "W-well, I'm glad you did." Kurosaki seemed to still be caught up in his embarrassment.

"Gah, you weren't supposed to know until I at least got back, I'm such an idiot-…"

"Hey! I said I was happy, now you're making me feel all nervous too!" Teru accused him, her mature side crumbling as she flailed her arms at him.

"Tasuku, are you ready to go?" a voice suddenly asked, effectively interrupting the awkward-fest. Riko waltzed in, to be met with the image of Teru and Kurosaki standing on opposite sides of the room; both blushing furiously and in high levels of embarrassment. She glared at the man. "I don't know what you did, but if you don't start acting your age, I'm going to hit you. Get a move on, you're already late."

The flustered man followed her orders, though he turned around to assure Teru he'd see her down there. Teru took several deep breaths, trying to calm down her still rapidly beating heart.

"So, he finally confessed?" Riko asked without any hesitation. Teru's heart rate sky rocketed again. The woman laughed. "About time, that idiot."

"How-what-when-? You know, never mind. I'll figure it all out later," she decided. Bashing her head in confusion against a wall was going to do nothing for her right now, so instead she grabbed her luggage and headed towards the door with a huge smile on her face. "Come on Riko, we have to see him off!"

Riko laughed once more at her eagerness, and then followed after her.

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**A/N: There, this is mostly fluff! Hope that it's believable given the circumstances. To those who read this before reading chapter 42, I apologize for the spoilers. But it isn't that spoilery…right? I wrote this right after that chapter came out, so it became AU in regards to the newest chapters. Whatever. Angst bomb coming up! Yay!**


	6. Drowning

**A/N: WARNING this chapter is rated R for mature themes. No limes or extreme violence, but ideologically sensitive material. With that said, a huge huge thanks to my beta reader, xKaishisxMoonx for braving through this monster and computer troubles.**

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He had pulled her out of the water as soon as he could, right after jumping out of Masuda's still moving van. He was lucky that he had been able to reach her in time; it seemed she had just stopped paddling and her mouth was below the water line. She was dead weight as he laid her out on the ground.

His thoughts were scattered as he checked her pulse, which was far, far too slow. Her face was tinged blue, and her lips were purple. She wasn't breathing, he realized, she wasn't breathing.

He began to push against her chest in a steady beat, trying to bring her heart back to its proper timing and for her to expel the water from her lungs.

_No please, anything but this. Don't let her die. Don't take her away from me. Breathe, damn it! Breathe! _He screamed in his thoughts; to whom, he wasn't sure.

She still lay there, drenched in sea water, turning ever bluer. He placed an ear to her chest, trying to hear the faint beat of her heart. Deep down he felt as though he'd already lost her. Pushing the thought away, he opened Teru's mouth so he could get more air in. He didn't hesitate as he leaned over and pushed the breath into her lungs.

No response.

He returned to his work at her chest, becoming more and more frantic. It was taking too long. He knew that time was running short for her. He could vaguely hear Masuda in the background as he went to her lips once more. He was saying something about an ambulance - that it was coming soon.

He didn't know what stopped him, what told him that it was no use. After an eternity of CPR he took her limp wrist in his hand, and then pressed his ear straight over her heart.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He rolled back on his heels and sat down, staring at the prone body. He barely noticed how out of breath he was, that he was now sopping wet from sweat and sea spray, only focusing on Teru.

The first coherent thought broke through his stupor. _'I failed. I failed Souichirou, I failed Teru. I said I would protect her. And now she's dead.'_

The last thought echoed through his mind until it found some sense of meaning. She was dead, just like her brother, just like his father.

"Teru, I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot, such a gigantic huge idiot," he found himself saying. He reached out and brushed the hair out of her face, which was plastered to her skin by the water.

"Tasuku, is she...?" Masuda asked behind him, sounding horrified. Kurosaki didn't reply. His utterly broken expression was enough of an answer.

The ambulance crew came shortly after, quickly loading up Arai then coming to check on Teru. After briefly trying to resuscitate her with a defibrillator, she was pronounced dead.

Masuda grabbed Kurosaki's shoulder and told him they had to leave to follow the ambulance. He nearly had to drag the man to his van, since Kurosaki was still wrapped up in his grief.

The next few hours went by in a blur for him. The hospital, Teru's body being covered by a sheet, Riko's face when she heard the news. What seemed never ending were the people crying. Riko, Master, Andou, Kiyoshi, Teru's friends, all had broken into tears in the hospital.

Only Kurosaki, holed up in one of the stiff chairs in the lobby, was dry eyed.

* * *

Riko found him after the more pressing issues were attended to after Teru's death. He was hunched over, hugging his arms tight to his body and staring at the floor. She knew he hadn't moved from the spot for more than three hours.

She placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Let's get you home," she said softly. He eased out of his seated position with no response.

A few minutes later and she was opening the door to his apartment and guiding the lifeless man to the couch so he could crash.

"Do you want anything to eat?" she asked hoarsely, her voice had been destroyed by all the talking and crying she'd done that day. Kurosaki once again did not reply. "Do you need anything?" she tried once more.

Again, nothing.

Riko felt herself growing angry. She understood the pain he was going through, truly, she did. She had lost Souichirou only a little over a year ago. But even back then Kurosaki had acted as though he was going through the most pain. He didn't stop for a moment to wonder if anyone else was hurting. Did he think he'd be the only one hurt by Teru's death? That he was the only one who cared for her?

"DAMN IT! Say something Tasuku!" she yelled at him, fists curled tight. The volume of her voice seemed to wake him up a little. He looked up at her from the couch. She recoiled from him as she saw his expression, her previous rage instantly draining out of her. His features were twisted in grief, regret and anger.

"Say something? What do you want me to say, Riko?" he asked her, anger simmering below the surface of his words. "Do you want me to say that I'm fine, thanks for the help? Or do you want me to tell you that I'm sad, but don't worry, I'll get over it? Really, tell me, I'll say whatever you want!" he yelled at her. He then dropped his head in his hands.

"Tasuku, I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. I just want you to know that you're not the only one hurting here," Riko said.

"It feels like it. It feels like when Souichirou died, but so much worse," he muttered into his hands. Seeing that he calmed down slightly, Riko went and sat down next to him on the couch.

"It feels like the world's ending, right? That any happy moment you've ever experienced pales in the face of them being gone? I was there, Tasuku, I understand."

The man sat up and looked at her; she could see his eyes growing red.

"I keep thinking about all I could've done differently," he admitted, "That maybe if I had told her everything about me, I would have already been gone and she wouldn't be dead. Or if Masuda had driven through that one red light, we would have made it in time or-"

"You can't change the past, you know that," she interrupted him. He turned away from her, staring at the TV. His expression glazed over. Riko silently wondered what he was thinking about. The man suddenly shuddered.

"And, what's even worse? You and Souichirou had years with each other. I've only known Teru for a year, and most of that I didn't even see her face to face," he began to tremble, "Riko, oh god, she never even knew how I felt about her. She-she probably thought I hated her or saw her as an annoyance or- or-"

He finally broke.

He crumbled in on himself and started to sob. He rambled incoherently the things that Teru would never do, or know, or things he wouldn't be able to experience with her. Riko rubbed his back, though she knew it wouldn't make any difference. She cried as well, partly because of Teru and partly because of seeing Tasuku like this.

Teru had only started to put Tasuku back together again. Now, with her death, he was completely shattered. Riko feared that he wouldn't be able to piece himself up back together again.

* * *

The funeral was larger than Kurosaki had expected, much larger than Souichirou's anyway. Teru had been able to touch and influence so many people in her short life, so much so that the cemetery was crowded, or maybe he simply felt crowded.

She'd been laid to rest only a few rows away from her brother. _At least it would make visiting the two of them easier_, he thought bitterly.

Truthfully, he hadn't wanted to go to the funeral. He had wanted to wait until it was all over and visit the grave after everyone else had left. Riko, it seemed, had expected that much from him. She'd asked specifically for him to be there, for the whole duration. She had claimed it was for emotional support, but he knew it was just an excuse to get him there. With him there with everyone else, it would be harder for him to run afterwards.

The funeral was just as long and painful as her brother's. The pastor's words flowed on forever, praying for her soul and mourning all their losses. Kurosaki simply wanted to bolt outside and chain smoke his way to an early death. He wondered how long that would take.

He stood farther away from the crowd as the final words were said over the coffin. Instead of the box, he saw the young girl inside of it. _What were the last words I spoke to her? _He wondered. It was before she was kidnapped. Anything before that moment seemed not to exist for him. With difficulty he remembered that he had been teasing her about driving her home. He wished that it had instead been one of those conversations where he embarrassed himself by showing some of his true feelings; instead of acting like a bastard and pretending she knew nothing about Daisy's true identity.

As he pulled out of his reverie he realized the coffin was already halfway into its grave. His stomach lurched with a more acute sense of loss than a second before. This was it, she was gone. It seemed like he had had the epiphany twenty times already and it consumed him each time he realized it. Most of the mourners were dispersing now, as the undertakers started to load the dirt back into the grave.

A pack of Teru's friends were all leaving together, most red eyed and crying. One noticed Kurosaki, he couldn't remember her name, and asked her friends to wait. The girl walked over as Kurosaki wondered how bad she was going to yell at him. He hoped she was loud, and that she cried, as she screamed all of the reasons that it was his fault. Because it _was_ his fault that her best friend was dead, and that he should have saved her. Everyone had assured him the opposite, of course, but Teru's friends were smart. They would be able to see the truth.

He was completely wrong, of course.

"I just want to know one thing," she started; he could barely hear her, "Did you love her?" He definitely hadn't expected that question. He wondered why she needed to know.

"Yes, I did," he answered simply. The past tense burned his throat a little bit. What a stupid question. He _does_ love her. How could he stop simply because she was dead? She gave him a sad little smile.

"I'm glad," was all she said. She gave him a nod, and then returned back to her friends. He stood watching the pack of misfits leave.

The pain was starting to claw at his chest again, as he watched the group of grieving teens leave. He purposely took deep breaths and sunk into the fantasy that had been keeping him sane the past couple of days. In it, he had managed to save Teru in time. She'd sit in the hospital bed, talking and laughing with her friends about the whole thing. After they left, he would sit down and tell her everything. Why wait any longer? She had nearly died, and he now knew how fragile his time was with her. He could never imagine farther than telling her, however. He couldn't decide on how she'd react.

A hand on his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts. He knew it was Riko's without having to turn around.

"We were thinking of staying here for a bit longer, do you want to stay with us?" she asked him. He turned around to see her, along with Masuda and Andou nearer to the headstone.

"Yah, I'll stay."

After twenty minutes, the speedy undertakers finished their job, gave their condolences and left the four alone in the cemetery. The headstone was simple; it only had her name written in Kanji down the front. It showed none of the vivacity of the girl whose name it depicted, which seemed wrong to him.

Andou touched the stone and bowed his head for a moment, saying nothing. Kurosaki assumed he was silently saying goodbye. Master followed after him, taking a bit longer. Kurosaki supposed it was because he knew her a bit better than the superintendent did.

His mind drifted once more as Riko took Master's place, thinking about the day she died. In any other circumstances, he would have been able to look back at the day as a happy one. He had accidentally fallen asleep with her in his arms, after comforting her the night before. Though he really couldn't remember the feeling of her next to him, he would have been able to think back to it fondly.

Teru, later that day, had tugged on his heart strings once again. While trying to assure the student president, she had said that even though she 'didn't know' Daisy, or the reason why he hid his identity, he was still the most important person in the world to her. He had smiled as she left, glad that he had been able to hear her from Andou's office. She probably didn't know how much these little proclamations made his heart soar.

Now his heart only felt like a ball of lead.

He had never shown her nearly as much affection to her as she showed him. How many times had she told him that she loved him? There was the first time when she didn't know he was Daisy. Then there was the time that she was thanking him for rescuing her, crying as she told him that she would give everything up in the world if 'Daisy' was still there to watch over her. He had leaned in to kiss her, only to be embarrassed when Riko burst into the room. He wished that he had kissed her; it was one of many regrets of his. It would have shown her how he truly felt about her, as well as made her happy.

If she had accepted his feelings, and did not hate him after he told her of his past sins, then maybe things would be different. She would've been staying with him in Andou's office as he worked, since he wouldn't need to hide it. She would have then been driven home by him; not abducted and drowned.

He knew it was dumb to dwell on things he couldn't change, but it kept his mind away from even more depressing topics. Like the fact that the morning of her death she promised to be there for him when he cried and to help him. Less than twenty four hours later she broke that promise, as he sobbed over her death.

He wouldn't have wanted to trouble her anyway over his past sins. They were his to bear and deal with; he wouldn't have wanted to dump them on her. He did wonder, though, if she would have been able to heal those wounds if he did let her help.

Riko stepped back from the grave and motioned him forward. He stood in front of the headstone, but didn't place his hand on it. He suddenly realized he had no right to.

As he was contemplating his past sins he could envision all the blood on his hands, so to speak. He had ruined so many people's lives with what he had done, and at several times he had thought that he was unforgivable. His friends had assured him that he wasn't to blame for most of it, and he had actually started to believe them on some points. That maybe he could drop the sins he carried.

But this was his biggest sin of all. It was an irredeemable sin, letting the girl that now lay beneath the earth die. Even if the others didn't blame him, or forgave him, he would always blame himself.

"I'm sorry Teru," he whispered. He wasn't apologizing to her for her death. He couldn't even imagine asking forgiveness for such a thing. Rather, he apologized for things he would do in the future that would probably disappoint her. Masuda had told Kurosaki a long time ago that he had passed the point where he would be able to live without her near him. The shop owner had meant it in a different context, of course, but he was still right.

After the longest time the four of them left the cemetery and silently filed into Kurosaki's car. The ride was somber as he dropped off Andou and Masuda to their respective homes. Riko only spoke up as they drove back to the apartment building.

"Tasuku, what are you planning on doing now?" she asked. Kurosaki blessed the long car ride they had had to previously think up an answer.

"I think I'm going to leave town for a bit, just like you did after Souichirou died. It just... hurts too much to be here. Maybe I'll go and stay with my mother for a while," he replied.

She stared at him for a long time. "I think you should stay here, Tasuku."

"You want me to stay in a place that will remind me of her every day? Riko, I'm not strong enough for that." They pulled into his parking spot, Kurosaki rushed to unlock the door and escape the conversation, but Riko's next question froze him in his seat.

"But you're strong enough to kill yourself?"

"R-Riko, that was a long time ago. I would never think of trying agai-..."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Tasuku. I could _see_ the self loathing just rolling off of you at the cemetery. I don't want you to leave town and never see you again!" she yelled at him. Kurosaki flinched.

"Riko, I promise you that I'll come back," he replied in a small voice.

"In what, a coffin? I'm not a school psychologist for nothing, you know. You've considered it and almost acted on it before, and now you're thinking about it again. Please, Tasuku, I don't want to lose TWO of my best friends so close together."

"Would you rather I wait another month?" he shot back, then immediately berated himself for saying it. Riko's eyes had grown wide.

"Tasuku-!"

"Calm down, calm down, I was joking, Riko. I swear, you take things too seriously," he quickly tried to back track.

"You can't joke about taking your life like that, Tasuku, really. Remember the people that care about you. We'd all be devastated if you did." Riko was obviously holding back tears. He needed a way to convince her. He took one of his hands off the steering wheel, which he realized he'd been holding onto with a death grip, and placed it on her hand.

"Riko, I promise that I'm fine. Teru would never want me thinking those things, and I wouldn't want to disappoint her like that." She didn't look completely convinced. Then again, he didn't need her to be.

"I still don't want you leaving," she warned him.

"I won't," he promised as he wondered what time he'd be able to sneak out of his apartment without her hearing.

"Good," she said brusquely and finally got out of the car. Kurosaki followed her to the elevator and felt his chest seize up as the doors closed. Riko kept an eye on him all the way up to their floor, making him feel even guiltier. As he told her goodnight, he reminded himself that he'd already apologized to Teru for it. Hopefully Riko would forgive him as well. Eventually.

The perfect time to sneak out turned to be three in the morning. He started the car up and pulled quickly out of the parking lot, only giving the apartment building one final glance as he drove into the night.

* * *

Riko awoke with a start the next morning. She had fallen asleep awkwardly on her couch. It took her a moment to remember what she was doing there.

Tasuku.

"Shit!" she cursed, racing out of her apartment.

She had called both Masuda and Andou the second she got home about Tasuku the night before.

"He was thinking about killing himself, I know it. He denied it, of course, but his body language seemed to scream otherwise," she had quickly explained.

"Why aren't you with him right now?" Masuda had asked her, outraged.

"I think I made him stop and think about it a little in the car. I told him that we wouldn't want him to do it, and how devastated we'd be. He also told me he wouldn't do it since Teru wouldn't want him to. Now, I don't think that's going to stop him for long. Tomorrow morning I'm going to call for assistance at the depression unit at the hospital, where he can be monitored closer. I think he wants to leave town before he tries so that we won't get sucked into it. I'll keep watch tonight and make sure he doesn't try to leave or anything."

Riko cursed again as she jiggled the door knob of Tasuku's apartment. She had fallen _asleep_! What kind of idiot was she to fall asleep next door to her friend who was considering suicide? She needed to make sure that the man was still in his apartment.

"Tasuku, Tasuku! Open this door right this instant or I'm going to beat the ever living crap out of you!" she shrieked. There was no response from inside. She raced back for the spare set of keys she had to his apartment, mentally yelling at herself that she should have done so sooner.

It took her two tries to get the door open, since her hands were trembling so badly. She burst into the apartment, expecting the worse.

"Tasuku!" she called out once more, though doubting she'd get a response. She scoured the apartment, trying to ignore the nauseating images her imagination supplied to her. She half expected to find Kurosaki in the tub, wrists slit and still.

Yet, he was nowhere to be found, which didn't mean he was safe. She reached into the pocket of her pants; she hadn't taken them off last night, and grabbed her cell phone. Kurosaki's number was 1 on her speed dial.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up!" she begged into the device as she paced back and forth in the man's apartment. After a few rings she got his voicemail.

"Damn it!" she yelled in frustration as she dialed Masuda.

The man quickly picked up. "Riko, what is it? Any news-"

"He's gone, he left! I can't find him anywhere!" she yelled, starting to lose her grip, "I can't find him, Masuda. I fell asleep by accident last night, he must have snuck out. Oh god, he's probably dead by now, up in some scudsy motel somewhere-"

"Riko, Riko, calm down. Is his car still at the apartment? If it is there's a chance he hasn't been able to get too far."

"I don't know. I'll go check." She raced out the door, not bothering to lock it behind her. Her fears were confirmed in the parking lot, as she looked at Tasuku's empty spot.

"He's gone, Masuda, he could be anywhere by now!" she moaned into the cell, leaning against her own car for support.

"We'll find him, don't worry. I'll call the police and tell them to keep a lookout for his car, and then I'll call Andou and get him up to date. You stay there just in case Tasuku comes back. Maybe we're blowing this out of proportion and he only went out for breakfast or something."

"I hope you're right about that," Riko sighed and then hung up. Her nerves were on edge, but she couldn't do anything but wait.

How could she have been so dumb? Why hadn't she demanded to stay in his apartment with him to keep an eye on him? Even if she had fallen asleep then, it would've been harder for him to sneak out. She had feared that overcrowding him would force his hand, and he would sneak into another room and try to end his life. She realized now that that was exceptionally dumb reasoning.

Her chest ached with the thought that he had already succeeded. Hadn't she seen how serious he had been about it, even though he had assured her the opposite? It had been her responsibility to look after her friend, and she had failed, miserably. She hoped beyond hope that Masuda would call back quickly with good news.

Her phone vibrated in her hand the second she thought this. She whipped the device up to her ear and immediately started talking.

"Masuda, any word have they found him yet?" she quickly asked.

"Um, I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm not Masuda," the unknown voice on the other line said apologetically. "Are you Riko O.?" Riko checked the number.

_*Kurosaki Cell*_

"Oh no," she breathed and sunk to the ground as the person on Kurosaki's cell continued speaking.

* * *

_**Hundreds Lose Power Early Friday Morning**_

_Early Friday morning, around 5, hundreds of residents in Aomori Prefecture's largest city, Towada, lost power. Electric crews were quick to find and fix the problem, but met with a gruesome discovery._

_Along Route 102, crews found a car that had veered off the road and crashed into one of the major electric poles that dot the area. An ambulance was called, but the young man was declared dead at the site._

_The driver, Kurosaki Tasuku, 24, was speculated to be going to his mother's home in Aomori early that morning. His cell phone, which miraculously survived the violent crash, was used to contact her and others to inform them of the tragedy. _

_Officer Kichida made some remarks of the accident. "We do have some issues with accidents in this stretch of the road. I've been trying to lobby for more visible signs to warn drivers of the sharp turn up ahead for a few months now. Hopefully this incident will bring more attention to the hazard."_

_When asked if he thought the driver was under the influence during the crash, Officer Kichida brushed the thought aside. "The morgue reported back that his blood alcohol level was entirely legal. He wasn't drunk at the time of the crash. What does confuse me, though, is that he had to have been going at least 120 kph to cause that sort of damage to the pole. I sometimes can't believe the stupid things young people do these days, taking risks like that."_

_We at the _Aomori Post_ would like to give our condolences to the grieving family and friends who mourn the unexpected passing of Mr. Kurosaki.

* * *

_

**A/N: **Wow, this oneshot completely blindsided me. I was re-reading the chapter where Kurosaki saves Teru from drowning when I realized how close she had been to dying. I instantly had to write about what would happen if she had.

It's actually surprising that she did survive. I looked up some information on drowning and CPR and such, and it said that once you've given up the ability to accept rescue help, or rescue yourself, you're really in trouble. Obviously, getting knocked unconscious is even worse. Teru wasn't able to hold onto the ladder to get out of the water, and she blacked out after fighting with Mori. She probably would have died in around a minute if Kurosaki wasn't right there to get her.

This story originally stopped shortly after Kurosaki breaks down and cries, with a little paragraph at the end saying he disappeared after Teru's funeral. I didn't like that ending so much, so I started to expand on it, and added five more pages on Microsoft word.

If you're wondering about the previous suicide attempt (WARNING SPOILER), in a flash back in one of the future chapters, he's about to throw himself in front of a train before Souichirou stops him. He did this because he felt guilty over the death of one of the company's members, and people believe that Kurosaki was the one to kill him. Or something like that. I'm not entirely sure.

The newspaper article at the end mentions Aomori and Towada. Both of these places are, of course, real. I used Aomori because Kurosaki mentions it as he makes up a lie about his mother emailing him about a wild boar (or something) in Aomori. We're going to pretend that she lives there. Also, 120 kilometers/hour is around 80 miles/hour.

Sorry for this long author note, but with a little more than seven pages of story, I hope you can give me a little break. I would really love any feedback on this, I put a lot of work into this story and I want to know if I was able to evoke any emotions in people.


	7. Back to Normal

**A/N: Spoilers up to chapter 44. I'm such a horrible person, always writing oneshots with spoilers. Please forgive me, spoiled people! Also, I apologize for not updating this in awhile... I just forget about these things. Oops.**

* * *

Things were back to normal. Well, almost. Things seemed better than normal to Teru. She had gotten Kurosaki back and had helped him start to forgive himself for his 'sins'. She still worked after school with him, still hung out with him at his apartment and all the usual stuff. But some sort of dynamic had changed between the two of them, and she had a hard time clearly defining it.

He seemed much more open than before. Granted, she now knew about his past, he had nothing to hide from her now. But, it was other things as well. He seemed to be breaking down barriers between the two of them; some she had only recently discovered existed. Once it was unusual for him to get close to her, generally followed by teasing or some sort of mild abuse. Now he casually lifted her off ladders, and brushed her hair out of her face. Just tiny things like these that made her heart race.

He seemed happier, which made Teru happy in turn. Teru knew from experience how freeing it was to be released from one's sins. He acted nicer towards her as well. That's not to say he didn't tease her a good deal, but it was always good-natured.

Riko was out of town a good deal after Kurosaki returned. She had taken a lot of time off from her odd jobs to help search for the blond and now she had to catch up. Teru didn't mind all too much. This simply meant she spent more time over at Kurosaki's. It was almost like that brief period of time when she had lived there, but instead of retiring into Kurosaki's room, she'd return to her own bed next door.

Teru also got to venture freely into Kurosaki's "Porn Room", (she was slightly disappointed that there wasn't any adult material in there). Most of the room was filled with spare computer parts, journals filled with codes and different programs backed up on discs. Kurosaki would type away on his computer as she rifled through everything.

"Hey, Kurosaki, what's this?" Teru asked. The blond leaned his head back in his chair, so that his head was upside down.

"What's what?"

"This." Teru held up a small electronic console. Kurosaki smiled and swiveled to face her.

"_That_ is my old Nintendo." Teru stared at him blankly. "Nintendo entertainment system? Video games?" he tried out. Teru's eyes lit up.

"Video games? What games do you have? Onii-chan never had any, and neither did I at my apartment."

"He seriously didn't have any? I can't believe... Anyway, you don't want to play with this junk. I'm not even sure it works." Teru pouted a little.

"I don't mind if it's old. Come on, do you still have the games for it?" she pestered him. He sighed and got off his chair.

"I think I put them up in the closet, let's see," he muttered, opening the door next to his desk and fishing around blindly in the top. There were a few books in the way of the video games. "Here, hold on to these," he grabbed the short stack of books and handed them to Teru without looking at them. "Got it!"

He turned to hand the collection of games to Teru, but she had sat down, slowly flipping through one of the books he'd handed her. He knelt down next to her to get a look at it.

"Hey, did you forget about the games?" he asked. Then he realized what book she was holding.

"...-a scrapbook. Was this the first year you were on my brother's team?" Teru asked, looking through a few pages of the book. Kurosaki sat down next to her.

"Nope, second. Riko decided she wanted to make scrapbooks for all of us. By mine, she was sick and tired of makin' 'em, so she just slapped some photos in and called it done."

Teru laughed and pointed at a picture, "Why does my brother have a lampshade on his head?" Kurosaki leaned closer to her and then laughed as well.

"Master threw some _crazy_ parties at his house sometimes."

"Wait, is this you? Why are you and Onii-chan wearing matching togas?"

"Oh god, I don't even remember. Look at that one. Riko had covered Souichirou's office with sticky notes when he had been on vacation."

"I think I remember him telling me about that! And wait, what's this-?" Suddenly the book was ripped out of her hands.

"Nothing. That was nothing. Hey, how about those video games?" Kurosaki leaned back, holding the book over his head.

"No! Let me seee~" Teru complained and tried to grab for the book. Kurosaki flopped on his back, holding the book as far away from Teru as he could.

"No, you can't- oof!" he grunted in pain as Teru accidentally elbowed him in the chest trying to see the picture. She was half on top of him.

"Oh come on it didn't seem that bad," she insisted. Suddenly getting a devilish look in her eye, she jabbed Kurosaki's side.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"You're not ticklish?"

"Not on my ribcage! Now, back, back!" he whapped her on the head with the book. She aimed a little lower and this time Kurosaki let out a short burst of laughter. Smiling triumphantly, she continued to tickle his side. "Hey, no! Not fair!" he yelled at her in-between laughs. Teru grabbed the scrapbook away from him and quickly rolled off his body, racing to the living room.

She flipped through until she found the page again. There, with a huge smile across his reddened face, was Kurosaki in a head to toe bunny outfit. The girl blinked twice, and then burst out laughing.

"Why...bunny...so funny!" she gasped between breaths, almost crying from laughing so hard. Kurosaki came up behind her and grabbed the book back, though it was of little use, since she had already seen it.

"I was drunk, I lost a bet and Riko has an evil sense of humor. We're going to leave it at that." Teru's laughter petered out. Kurosaki sounded rather angry.

"I'm s-sorry for stealing the book from you," she apologized quickly. Kurosaki was lifting up his shirt to inspect his side.

"Man, I think you actually left a bruise," he muttered. Teru was too distracted from the sight to apologize again. He sighed. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to punish you."

Teru backed up a little. Who knew what punishment he'd think of? Cleaning out his apartment? Cooking dinner for a week? There was that one time he'd tied her up in a blanket and threw her on the bed, maybe he'd do that until Riko came back?

"H-hey, what about those video games? Let's forget about the bunny suit-" Teru snickered a little, (she couldn't help it) then clasped her hands over her mouth as she realized what she'd done. Kurosaki gave her that devil like smile that he usually saved for school, when he informed her that she had about five hours of scrubbing to do in the girl's bathroom.

Suddenly his hands shot towards her. "Kurosaki, no!" she screamed as he started to mercilessly tickle her. She tried to swat his arms away, but was soon laughing too hard to do anything. She slumped to the ground to try and escape, but all he did was sit down next to her and continue. Finally after Teru yelled "Can't breathe!" for the fifth time, he stopped. He laughed as well as she caught her breath.

"See? That's what you get."

"You. Are evil," she replied in-between breaths. Slowly she sat up. "So, are we going to play those video games?"

"I don't know, I think your behavior's too bad to play video games," he said. She pressed her hands together and gave him a small bow.

"Please, master, I promise to behave better from now on," she replied in an overly serious tone.

"Alright, then. You go get them." Teru jumped to her feet to go gather the Nintendo system. As Kurosaki tried to show her how to play the game, she couldn't help but smile.

Yes, things were finally back to normal.

* * *

**A/N: For those of you who have read chapter 44, this was inspired by the video games they were playing... That just sounds overly obvious, doesn't it? Mehhh. Expect more soon...Hopefully.  
**


	8. Resuscitation

**A/N: This is a small sequel to chapter six's 'Drowning', written three years ago at least. I thought I would finally get it out and wrap up this series of one shots. I would like to thank all of you who read, favorited and commented on this story; I'll always look fondly back on my time in the Dengeki Daisy fandom. **

**Warnings for this chapter: mentions of suicide, depression and general angst.**

He knew he took the turn too fast. He had taken this road to his mother's once or twice before, and knew what would happen if he kept his foot on the gas. He'd fly off the road and hopefully hit the thick power line pole ten feet from the pavement.

He didn't feel much as he hopped off the road, nor did he think much. He had already established that he was going to hell. So what if he sped up the process a little? He just hoped that he didn't survive the crash, because then his friends would still worry about him and if he was going to make it. Really, he didn't want them to hurt any—

Impact.

The man got his wish. The driver side connected straight with the pole, killing him instantly. The metal of the car wrapped around the beam, like an aluminum can being crushed. The sound of the crash was followed quickly by the snapping of the pole; it fell snapping a few power lines on its descent.

The cacophony of noise had lasted less than a minute. The night was still once more, other than the slight buzzing of the free electric lines. A cell phone rested in the back seat, flung back from the crash. It made it through without a scratch.

OoOoO

Hell was surprisingly light. Or, rather, he felt light. He kept his eyes shut to prevent seeing what it looked like. He had expected, at best, nothingness. At worst, the stereo typical 'fire and brimstone' those Christians always preached about.

But right now he felt...content. As he lay there, there was no pain, no ache in his body. He just felt... Light.

Kurosaki opened his eyes a bit, hoping that it wouldn't undo the comfort. At first he thought he was staring into a bright light. After a minute he realized that the sky (or whatever it was called in hell) was simply white.

He sat up slowly and looked down at himself. He wasn't horribly mangled from the crash, or covered in blood. Actually, he had his gray janitor uniform on. Looking ahead, he saw that as far as he could see was white as well. Maybe this was nothingness after all—

"You're probably going to be annoyed," a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Kurosaki stopped breathing. There was no way. This couldn't be happening. He didn't dare turn to face the person speaking as they continued.

"They don't let people smoke here, so you're out of luck. But you'll probably be able to get over it quickly." The man fought hard not to turn his head and face the person. His hands were shaking in shock. He had expected anything for the afterlife, anything but this. The person didn't say anything for a while.

"Kurosaki, please, look at me," the voice begged softly, breaking the silence. He couldn't resist anymore, especially when she pleaded him.

He turned his head slowly to face Teru. She was sitting, like him, a few feet away. She had her legs hugged to her chest, chin resting on her knees. She was simply looking at him, calmly, as if nothing was wrong.

She looked normal, and healthy. There wasn't a tinge of blue on her face, like the last time he'd been so close to her. She was whole, and she was here, with him. Eyes wide, only one thought rang through his head.

'I don't deserve this.'

Teru winced, as though she was able to hear his thoughts. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't." she said.

"I-I didn't say anything," Kurosaki croaked out in reply.

"You thought it loud enough for me to hear," she explained, though it didn't make sense to the man. "Kurosaki—" she leaned forward, obviously to move closer to him. He flinched back.

He didn't deserve to be near her. He didn't deserve being _here_, wherever here was. He didn't deserve any of this. It was his fault that she had died. His fault she had drowned. It was all his fault.

He kept his eyes downcast and his hands clenched. "Please T-Teru," he tripped over her name, "Please, leave. I can't expect you to forgive me for what I've done to you. I understand if you hate me. I don't want—"

"Wait, stop stop stop," she interrupted. "Kurosaki, listen to me. Look at me. I don't blame you. Not one bit. It was my stupid idea to grab Mori-Sensei and drag her into the water. If I had stayed hidden, you wouldn't have had any trouble saving me. I actually thought, for a bit, that you hated _me_ because I acted so stupidly," she admitted.

Kurosaki, at a loss for words, said nothing. She continued. "You worked so hard to protect me and there I went and put myself in danger and got killed. I thought for sure you'd be mad that I made you break your promise to my brother—"

"That makes no sense, Teru!" he interrupted her, "Why the hell would I hate you? It was my fault—"

"No. It wasn't," she stood up suddenly. Kurosaki noticed that her normal grayish school uniform was now a bright white. "Kurosaki, you wouldn't have been able to save me. I was in the water for too long. I died only a minute or two after you got me out of it. I was able to watch from here, you kept on trying to save me for ten more minutes. There was nothing you could do."

"That can't be right, there must have been something I could have done," he muttered weakly. She shook her head.

"Stop blaming yourself," she said, walking the few steps that separated them and sat down next to him. "Please, stop blaming yourself." Up this close, any memory of her blue tinged skin was forced away. She looked so... alive. Though, there was something a little off about her eyes.

"That's just what everyone else said."

"Well, I think my opinion counts for a bit more, here," she joked. Kurosaki looked down at her. She was smiling up at him, that ridiculously innocent smile that always made his heart miss a beat. He tried to let the blame go, and succeeded a little bit. The twisted feeling he had in his chest loosened slightly.

"Hey, you didn't notice me referring to you as Daisy, did you?" she asked suddenly. Kurosaki thought back through the conversation and realized he had completely missed it.

"Well, it doesn't really matter if you know or not, now," he decided.

"You're right, it doesn't," she reached over slightly and grabbed his hand. Before he could object (out of embarrassment and blame that still clung to him) she continued. "Thank you for helping me all those times and watching over me. Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for trying to rescue me." Kurosaki felt the pain in his chest lessen further. He smiled a little, for what felt like the first time in years.

"You're making it sound like I did a lot. I barely did anything," looking at her, he suddenly realized something. "Hey, your eyes are a little red. Were you just crying?" Teru looked away quickly, but grabbed his hand tighter.

"Y-yeah." Kurosaki knew he had no right to ask, but couldn't stop himself in time.

"Why?"

"The dead can watch the living from up here, you know," she started off, "You can't hear what anyone's saying, but it's nice to be able to see them." Kurosaki realized what was coming.

"Teru, you-..."

"Onii-chan was worried about you. He worried that you might try to-" she hiccupped a little. "You left the apartment so early, after having that fight with Riko-san. You were driving so fast that I was worried you might lose control of the car. Then I realized that's what you were trying to do," she was whispering now. Kurosaki felt his heart wrench as she continued. "I was screaming for you to stop, to slow down, but you couldn't hear me. I haven't screamed so loud since Kiyoshi almost got ran o-over," her voice hitched a little. Tears were starting to land on her uniform. "Then your car flew off the road and was aimed straight for that pole and, and-..."

Kurosaki couldn't take it anymore. He pulled the girl to his chest, where she hid her head in his neck. He could feel her tears run down his skin as he hugged her form.

"I didn't want you to die, I didn't! I w-wanted you to be alive, and happy! It's my fault, I know it. You killed yourself because of me. It's my fault," she sobbed, repeating herself over and over again. All he could do was whisper 'I'm sorry' and 'It wasn't your fault' into her ear.

Kurosaki, so used to Teru falling asleep after she cried, was surprised when she sat up and away from him, still hiccupping a little. She wiped her face off on her sleeve.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm so horrible, ruining your first few minutes here like this."

He flicked her on the forehead before he could stop himself. "Stop that, I'm just glad that I'm here to begin with," he reprimanded.

She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand, smiling. "Come on, let's get out of here and join the others. There are a lot of people who want to see you."

Kurosaki's mind froze for a moment. "W-wait, wh-who? Who's here?" he asked as Teru stood. She brushed off the back of her skirt then held a hand out to him.

"My brother, my parents, and there's a Kurosaki Sr. that really wants to see you again," she explained. He numbly grabbed her hand and was hoisted up by the small girl.

"I-I don't- I don't think I'm ready," he admitted. She held onto his hand, gripping it tightly.

"I've got you, don't worry," she said, grinning up at him.

He smiled back at her, blinking back a few stray tears. He took a few steadying breaths. "Yeah, you do. Lead the way."

And she did.


End file.
